Wi-Fi cutting out constantly (Intel Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz)

[Takado]

My Wi-Fi has been dropping out anywhere from once an hour to multiple times a minute, which has made working from home or playing games near impossible.

The issues are non-existent when I'm on Manjaro Linux, but are constant whenever I am forced to use Windows.

I have already:

• Updated all my drivers
• Reinstalled my network drivers
• Downgraded to the Asus OEM network drivers
• Checked that power settings are in performance modes
• Updated my BIOS to the latest version
• Installed the latest version of Windows
• Done a clean Windows reinstall

This is my hardware:

ASUS TUF X570-Plus (Wi-Fi) - Wireless adapter is the Intel Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz

AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060S

16 GB Corsair DDR4 3200 MHz

Western Digital 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD

This issue is extremely frustrating, and I have lost so much time trying to fix it. Any actual help (not involving solutions mentioned above) would be much appreciated.

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Takado,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

To better assist you please provide the following report and information:

Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU)

• Open the application and click on "Scan" to see the system and device information
• By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View".  
• Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save".  

Note: You can use the option under the reply window to attach the report and any other files to the thread (Drag and drop here or browse files to attach).

1. Are you having issues only with WIFI or with Bluetooth as well?
2. When did the problem start to happen?
3. Do you remember if this issue happened after a new OS update or Wireless driver update?
4. Is this the original adapter that came pre-installed in your system or have you changed/installed a new adapter recently?
5. Have you checked if this issue happens on different networks and different bands(4GHz/ 5GHz)?
6. What steps do you take to reproduce your issue?
7. Were you able to have your wireless connection in a normal/expected performance before while on Windows?
8. Have you installed any recent software or hardware in your system? 
9. Have tried a roll back to a previous driver version from both our end and the manufacturer’s end for testing?
10. Have you rebooted your access-point, router, modem?
11. Would you mind providing me a picture or a video of the way the adapter is connected to your motherboard? 
12. Does your access-point, router, modem have the latest firmware? If yes, is it configured for 11ac?
13. Do you currently use the recommended settings for 802.11ac connectivity?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician 

[Takado]

Hi Victor,

To answer your questions:

1. I do not use Bluetooth on this computer.
2. The problem has been around to some degree for at least a year, but has gotten worse in the last few months.
3. I do not remember as it was over a year ago that it noticeably started.
4. It is an onboard adapter. See the manufacturer's page here.
5. It happens on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, as well as dual-band mixed.
6. Simply booting my computer into Windows, the issue remains no matter what, including a clean reinstallation of Windows.
7. I do not remember having the issue prior to a year ago. The issue had also seemingly improved for a couple of months, before worsening within the past few days.
8. I have not installed any software that I haven't had before. When I did a clean reinstallation of Windows a few days ago, the issue persisted even when the system was completely clean.
9. Yes. I have tried using previous versions of both the generic Intel driver and the OEM Asus driver.
10. Yes. Additionally, throughout the time I have had this issue, I have changed routers, and even ISPs.
11. It is an onboard adapter. See the manufacturer's page here. 
12. Yes, and yes.
13. Yes.

Additionally, I have attached the requested report.

I would like to mention once again that the issue is only present in Windows, and not in Manjaro Linux, which I dual-boot. Also, I would like to mention that I am a computer science student, so I do have a level of know-how when it comes to computers, so I would appreciate if we can skip the steps that I mentioned I have already taken (see original post).

Thanks for your help.

[Victor_G_Intel]

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

Based on the troubleshooting that you have completed, there are not many steps that we can continue with besides the following in case you haven’t tried them of course.

Network troubleshooter

1. Select the Start button > Settings > Network & Internet > Status. Open Network & Internet Status settings.
2. Under Change your network settings, select Network troubleshooter.
3. Follow the steps in the troubleshooter and see if that fixes the problem.

Network reset

1. Open the Start menu and select Settings.
2. Choose Network & Internet.
3. Choose Status, and then select Network reset.
4. Select Reset now in the Network reset screen.
5. Select Yes in the confirmation message to restart your PC and complete the process.

Reseat the adapter

Depending on the way that ASUS integrated the adapter into their motherboard, you might be able to reseat it and test the computer afterward.

If you have already tried all of this, our only recommendation left will be to either try another exact same motherboard if possible, to rule out a faulty component or just RMA the MOBO so they can check it on ASUS end to determine if a replacement is needed due to again a faulty component or due to a problem with the adapter's customization that they included during the integration process.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician 

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Takado,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Please let me know if you need further assistance.  

Best regards,

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Takado,

We have not heard back from you.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician